The Co-Optional Podcast
The Co-Optional Podcast, formerly known as the ''The Game Station Podcast (abbreviated as the 'TGS Podcast)''', is a gaming podcast originally hosted by John "TotalBiscuit" Bain, Jesse Cox, and Dodger. While broadcasting under the name TGS, episodes aired on The Game Station channel, and later on the Polaris YouTube channel following the podcast rebranding. On 13th of November 2014, episodes moved to TotalBiscuit's channel instead, due to "disagreement on creative direction". Following the passing of John Bain in May 2018, hosting duties were taken up by his wife and fellow YouTube content creator Genna Bain and episodes continue to be released on her personal channel. Format The podcast consists of one main host; traditionally TotalBiscuit, or in later episodes Genna, two side-hosts; typically Jesse Cox and Dodger, and a guest. On several occasions Jesse, Dodger, or another member of the Polaris network (such as WoWCrendor) has taken up the mantle of main host. Episodes typically consist of three segments and begin with the main host introducing the side hosts and guest(s) and allowing each to take their turn talking about what video games they have been playing in the past week, or since the last podcast was released. Following the first break they then move onto the week's video game news. After a second break the subject changes to the week's new releases and upcoming games, before signing off with announcements of what videos are coming up on their individual YouTube channels. On average, epsiodes vary in length between 2 and 3 hours; the shortest episode was Episode 49 (50 minutes) which was broadcast live from PAX East. Simon's guest appearance (Episode 6) was among the longest, at 3 hours 30 minutes. While there is a set structure, it is not rigid and is subject to change from episode to episode. They ''occasionally ''talk about video games. Episode Guide & Guests Almost every episode of the podcast has had a guest and the guests of each episode are as follows: Trivia *Simon, Martyn, DaveChaos, Sips, Strippin and Pyrion Flax have all appeared as guests on the show. *Episodes from Co-Optional 27 onwards begin with an animated intro. The visuals were animated by Julian GD of sabertoontigers, and the introduction music was written and performed by Miracle of Sound. *Originally the show only included guests from within the Polaris network, however following the rebranding, TB began inviting guests from outside Polaris. *With a total of 24 appearances to date, WoWCrendor is the most frequent guest on the Podcast and is likened to "the fifth Beatle" or "the third wheel" of the show. *Only one guest has ever been kicked off the show; Justin of Silvermania (Episode 59), who was ejected after he and his roommate acted inappropriately and insulted the hosts numerous times. After being kicked off the show, Justin posted to his Facebook fans: "They couldn't handle our awesomeness". In the VOD of the infamous episode, the first hour of the podcast is omitted. *Kaeyi Dream is known to have watched the show and is most likely a fan of it due to the fact that she mentioned that she first saw Martyn during his guest appearance on the 24th episode. *A common misconception is that the rebranding of the podcast (and the parent network) was due to trademark issues with Gamestation, a now-defunct chain of retail video game stores in the UK, however this is untrue. *In one memorable moment (Episode 39), Jesse infamously broke the law live on air when he drank a can of Irn-Bru, which is banned in the US, live on the air. *On the 14th episode of The TGS Podcast, Dodger ate a pack of Jaffa Cakes that had a best before date of 1272, whether this was just a misprint or the box of Jaffa Cakes were actually from the medieval age, this goes down as one of the most memorable moments in the podcast's history. This information ended up on the Wikipedia page for the year 1272, though it was quickly taken down it this was remarked at by the hosts on the next episode. *Nerd3 was offered to be on the Co-Optional Podcast but declined at the time because he though he didn't have good enough internet. However, Dan did eventually appear on the Podcast on the 62nd episode of the Co-Optional Podcast. * As a result of the show being completely disassociated with Polaris, the show's animator no longer got paid by Polaris and set up a Patreon for payment per animation video. Currently, he is getting paid over $1,300 per video which according to TotalBiscuit, was "far more than what Polaris was paying him per video". Gallery TB.jpg|John "TotalBiscuit" Bain - The Podcast's main host. Bluedodger.png|Brooke "Dodger" Lawson - One of the Podcast's side hosts.|link=Brooke Lawson jesse cox.jpg|Jesse "OMFGcata" Cox - One of the other Podcast's side hosts.|link=Jesse Cox Co-Optional Podcast.png|The Podcast's logo. Cox-Optional Podcast.png|The Podcast's logo when Jesse Cox is the main host. Cox-Optional Break.png|The Break image when Jesse Cox is hosting. Category:Podcast Category:Non-Yogscast Category:Polaris Category:Simon Lane Category:Martyn Littlewood Category:Sips Category:DaveChaos Category:TotalBiscuit Category:Strippin